out ketching again amonniad series one
by pauline companion cavalry
Summary: Ash Ketchum has battled many trainers, with all kinds of strategies, but none like this one. He claims to be one of the \greatest conquerors of all time. Who is he? How did he slip into his life? You will have to read to find out the answers.


OUT KETCHING AGAIN

(AMONNIAD SERIES ONE)

by Tracey Esteron

Published by Athenian Academy Books Inc.

1023 Rictron St.

Pallet Town Ca, 12345

Illustrated by Athena Brazion

Copyright 2010 by Tracey Esteron. All rights reserved.

This material's use in other books may only be done with permission from Athenian Academy Books Inc. Any other use is allowed without having to get permission.

This is Tracey Esteron's first published pokemon book, for she had begun her career on the Internet. She has been playing Pokemon Platinum and has started her training career with a Chicoreeta. She will enter into a pokemon contest very soon. She now lives in Pallet Town, across the street from Ash Ketchum, her inspiration to write about Pokemon in the first place.

To Ash, for inspiring me to make Pikachu a character with a leading role.

To Dawn for all the pokemon, coordination, and the architectural information about the pokemon center.

And to Alexander Alae Amon and Darius Ackisan for making a possible scenario when they'll have to cooperate, like how Athens and Sparta had done.

1: A Pokemon Warning Unheeded

Ash stared at the man across the battlefield from him.

He was taller than Pikachu had described, about six foot six, maybe more. He had about neck-length blonde hair. His skin was tight against his long thin bones, with a perfect and yet battle-scarred face.

His eyes were the thing that scared Ash, being a blue-grey color that reminded him of a thunderhead mixed with a bright sky. There was more blue than grey, as bright as the most beautiful blue sky he had ever seen, while the grey was as dark and ominous as the most severe thunderstorm he had witnessed.

There was a third element mixed in, a kind of shiny reflectiveness that ringed his eyes in an intense light. Ash couldn't locate its source. Did it come from the grey color? The blue color? They seemed to bathe everything they looked at in the same intense light that ringed them, as if his mere look could burn.

He was dressed in a long robe, which Misty had told him was called the Mitra. Only Persian kings wore that, and this man did not look Persian. He was Macedonian.

He had no pokeballs hanging from his belt like him, but it was pretty impressive, with Greek letters carved into the leather. He had a watch-like device on his left wrist. It had an oval face that was a digital watch. Around the poketch, there was a band of a shiny metal, but was it silver or gold? He flipped the poketch shut, revealing the lid, which had a blue-grey symbol in the center.

"So, are we going to battle or not?" Ash started at his voice. It had a strong accent. He distinctly remembered that Pikachu had warned him about this trainer. "He has a Greek accent so you might want a translator. He's Macedonian though, so don't ever call him Greek. He's smart Ash. He's brilliant at finding your pokemon's weaknesses. Don't ever forget what I'm telling _you." He remembered he hadn't asked the trainer's name, and as if he had read his mind, he replied, "I am Alexander, son of Philip. Alexander Alae Amon. You first."_

_Ash needed a pokemon that could top any of Alexander's easily. The battlefield was flat, so there was no advantage provided by the ground. He threw his first pokeball. "Go Bulbasaur!" His grass-type pokemon came bursting out of its pokeball, poised and ready for battle. What's Alexander going to choose,_ Ash wondered.

He was stopped by feeling an unexpected strategic headache when he yelled in that strangely intimidating accent, "Azelf, I choose you!"

Ash's heart sank. Why did he have to choose the perfect pokemon? There may be no type advantage, but Azelf looked much better trained. Its legs were bent, ready to attack from any angle.

He suddenly remembered another one of Pikachu's warnings. _"He's only lost three battles in the past year."_

_He pushed this thought aside, and he took the initiative._

_"Bulbasaur use Razor Leaf!" Bulbasaur unraveled leaves from the plant bulb on its back and started to lash them at Azelf. _

_Alexander didn't do anything that Ash had expected since he did not even attack in response. Instead, he said quietly, "Azelf use Agility then Counter." Azelf dodged the leaves by running around in circles around Bulbasaur. Then, she attacked him with the same attack from the flank. "Bulba!" it screamed._

_"Bulbasaur do it for me! Vine Whip!" A long vine came out of Bulbasaur's plant bulb. It spun it around and around, attempting to catch and tie up Azelf. What will he do now?_

"Use Psybeam and don't dodge!" Alexander yelled. Rainbow beams didn't shoot from Azelf's eyes like what Ash saw with Sebrina's Abra, but a long white beam of energy channeled itself from her body, and it crashed into Bulbasaur. It was probably more powerful than Abra's too. Bulbasaur fell over, dazed, eyes unfocused.

"Come on, snap out of it!" Ash shouted. "Azelf's no match for you! Use Bullet Seed!"

"Azelf-" Ash didn't catch Alexander's last word as it was in a language he didn't know. "Dexter, can you translate?"

The pokedex did not only know about pokemon, but it could translate foreign languages into English. It replied, "He is speaking ancient Greek. He said, "Azelf use Assist." _Why, Ash thought miserably. I'm going to lose! He's been training for only a year, and I've been doing it for nearly five._

_"I was expecting a harder battle from you Ash, considering what you've done. I said that we could use at_ _least_ one pokemon. I didn't say you couldn't use two."

His eyes seem to brighten as Ash was mentally cornered. The pupils widened, penetrating into his mind, making him unable to think. _ "His eyes can get this kind of brightness, prohibiting thought. He first developed it when he met Demosthenes, it made him nervous. His best weapon is intimidation." Why didn't I remember that until now? Ash scolded himself inwardly. I'll never win!_

"Yes." Alexander's smooth voice cut through his mental blockade. "Your little friend's warning wouldn't have helped you, even if you had heeded it."

Ash began to reach for another pokeball, but he stopped, his hand only an inch away. Why did Pikachu say that Alexander had met Demosthenes? He was from 2300 years ago. He thought for a moment, trying to find the scraps of information about history that he already knew. He had traveled to Pella, and he had met Philip II, a Macedonian king, to talk about peace sercs between Athens and Macedonia. Several years later, Philip had been assassinated, and his son, Alexander, had to deal with the orator. Ash began to piece it all together. This man, Alexander Alae Amon, could not have met Demosthenes. On the other hand, considering the fact that we know Athena and people from the Iliad, this is not very outrageous.

He took another good look at Alexander. What had Plutarch and everyone else said about him? They had said that he was short and that he had blonde hair, which was, very often, described to flow to his shoulders like a lion's maine. He hdid not have a heavily built face or body like his father since his features were fine. He was fair, confirming what the accounts told again. As Peter Green had said, "His eyes were odd, one being grey-blue and the other dark brown."

Ash looked up, and he saw that this was true as well.

This can't be him. He was dead. He is dead. Alexander met his gaze and smiled. "Yes Ash. I am Alexander the Great. You have no need to confirm that with anybody. Zeus and Hades brought me here. Now do you see why battling me is futile?" Ash did not respond. "Of course, you do see."

Looking down at his belt, Ash chose another pokeball. "Squirtel, go! Use Rapid Spin!" His turtle pokemon came ready for action. Squirtel started to shoot water and spin at the same time. Azelf was knocked off her feet.

"That's what I'm talking about! Now use Skull Bash, and Bulbasaur use Solar Beam!"

"Azelf assist!" Azelf did something weird and unexpected. She stood there and stared at the two charging pokemon. Suddenly, they both fell at her feet, asleep.

"Advance Espeon! Use Dream Eater, Azelf Assist once more!" Ash watched as his sleeping pokemon shuddered as half their HP was depleted, healing Azelf and Espeon. It hit him, a hammer blow to his strategy. Alexander would count on Azelf to use Hypnosis, to put his pokemon to sleep and to drain their HP. His risk was whether Azelf would use Assist to mimic Espeon or not. It wouldn't matter in the end. "Azelf, Psybeam!"

Fortunately, this woke his two pokemon. They stood shoulder-to-shoulder.

"Bulbasaur Solar Beam one more time, and Squirtel use Hydro Pump!" The pokemon clashed in a swirl of water, plant fibers, and telekinetic energy.

"Agility! Camouflage!" Espeon suddenly did flame wheel, Bulbasaur yelped as it was hit by a move it was volnorable against, and Azelf ran in circles again. "Counter attack Azelf! Finish them!"

Even before Azelf could attack, Bulbasaur and Squirtel cringed. "Yes Ash, Espeon used Future Sight on her own. It does damage two turns after the move is performed, and Azelf used assist without my orders and mimicked her, damaging both."

Ash finally realized that he should have registered Pikachu's warning. "...Brilliant at finding your pokemon's weaknesses." They must be pretty smart in order to have attacked by themselves without orders. Ash wasn't ashamed that he had lost. He had put up a hard fight, one of if not the hardest, because of the tactics used by him and his foe.

"That was a good battle Ash. Maybe you're not as weird as everybody says." They shook hands. Alexander was as smart and as sneaky as Pikachu, Plutarch, and Arrian had said and wrote. I'll change my perspective from now on, Ash contemplated as he watched Alexander turn his back and walk off the battle field. _ Will I ever see him again?_ He pondered. Ash didn't realize that he would be seeing a lot of Alexander, probably more of him than he wanted.

2: An Organization Enters

"Sign-ups for the next pokemon contests start today!" Dawn screamed excitedly. She had been waiting to win her second ribbon ever since she received her first last year with Piplup. This time, it would be much harder. When she had let the world know about her joy, she didn't think about the other people around her, sleeping.

Pikachu turned over, rubbed his eyes, and sat up, looking irritated. Like Meowth, he had learned to talk. "You woke me up from the best dream I've ever had," he muttered. "You checked the web site this early in the morning?"

"As a matter of fact, Pikachu I did. I'm going to train really hard over this next week. Odysseus will be there."

Last year around June, Dawn had to read _The_ _Iliad_ and _The_ _Odyssey_ for a school project, and she found that nearly all the characters had come to life: Achilles, Odysseus, Telemachus, and all the Greek gods. _ Why has my life suddenly become so strange?_ She asked herself, as she heard someone open the bedroom door. May came running in, out of breath.

"You have to get down to the Pokemon center," she gasped. "Sign-ups are now. I woke the others, even Alexander. Not Ash though." Dawn sighed, pulled Pikachu out from under Ash's covers, dragged Ash out of bed wondering if he should dress decently first, and ran down the stairs. This was exciting. It always was. she had entered a few contests before and even had won a ribbon, but not with such hard competition.

Pikachu withdrew one of his three pokeballs from his belt. Recently, pokemon that were smart and literate enough could become pokemon trainers. "Eevee, go! We have to get down to Nurse Joy's before the spots are all gone!" Eevee, the pokemon that looked like a white dog with pointed black ears, nodded.

"You know, how about we let Darius figure out that we're leaving when we've already left?" Someone had snuck up on Pikachu as he had head out the front door. He jumped; wasn't this the same trainer who battled Ash? When he had described him to Ash, he had just seen a photo of Alexander. He was exactly like the photo he had found online accept ten times more awe-inspiring.

"I know, I know. A little unexpected huh?" Alexander's question was innocent, but yet with that accent, that smooth, quiet and loud accent, it seemed to make him think more than he should.

"Yes it is, I hope Ash didn't get jittery when he saw."

"Oh he did, very much so. Come on, you don't want to fight me for a spot later, do you?" He put Pikachu and Eevee in his backpack and ran to catch up with May and Dawn.

Pallet's pokemon center was in the middle of town, beside City Hall. It had a wide facade supported with two white marble Greek doric columns, slimmer at the top than at the base. Various pokemon were carved and painted in reliefs and portraits on the columns. The center had renovated to make it look like a Greek building. It had a statue of Apollo with a Chancy at its feet in the lobby. Pikachu stepped smoothly up to the front desk.

"I'm going to enter into the Pallet Pokemon Contest," he said to Nurse Joy. She smiled at him.

"Anything for you Pikachu. And what pokemon will you be using?"

"Eevee, Bidoof, and Chingling. Did Dawn come by yet 'cause if she did, I have no chance at finding her."

"Oh she's upstairs, preparing to train. Ash, May, and Misty are there too." She glanced at who was carrying Pikachu. Alexander stared back. "Wait Alexander!" she exclaimed. "I knew you would come! I've seen your routines on TV before several times and they're some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen."

Alexander blushed; obviously, he hadn't gotten this embarrassed by Nurse Joy before. "That wasn't as easy as it looked. It took lots of practice-" "And watching how May does it!" Eevee cut in. "I have to admit, they are pretty cool to watch."

He nodded. "I'm entering all seven of my pokemon, like I usually do. That way, I don't lose any of them."

Nurse Joy ignored his comment and put their names down. "Go right on up, then." "Let's do this," all 4 said in unison as they prepared for the long week of training ahead.

The pokemon center had turned its three top floors into about twenty large rooms per floor. The trainers could rent them out for nine dollars an hour. Alexander found Dawn deep in training with ball capsule in hand and Piplup in front of her. "Piplup, use bubble beam."

"Azelf use psybeam!" Dawn turned, seeing how the white beam of light made the water a stream of colors. "Oh, you're here. I didn't think you'd come. Your space is next door." She pointed to a door marked ALEXANDER ALAE AMON, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM.

"Thanks," Alexander noted, as he pushed the door open. The room was about 40 feet square with a thirty foot ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling windows covered one of the walls, offering a beautiful view with no need for artificial light. "Okay, everyone come on out!"

Six flashes emitted from the poketch on his wrist, releasing his other pokemon; Tertwig, Milotic, Exeggcute, Espeon, Pachirisu, and ah, Andalexrae.

Andalexrae was a new species of pokemon that Alexander had caught after he found out about them from Professor Oak. Andalexrae was half his height, with a sword pointing up above its head that was attached to the back of its neck. Sword-like appendages ran edge-up down Andalexrae's arms from shoulder to elbow, with spikes projecting up at 45dg on the insides of its wrists so if it had its palms up, the spikes would be pointing up. The same sword-like appendages on its legs from hip to knee. Its feet were like that of a normal person's, with marks on them that looked like sandal straps. It had a light skin tone and it looked human but for the swords.

"Let's do this everyone. Azelf Agility! Tertwig Bullet Seed! Milotic Clamp!"

He continued in this way, trying out different move combinations. Azelf and Exeggcute? No, too similar. Milotic and Espeon? Maybe. He looked at two of his pokemon. Both were looking up at him with the same expression: _When will we go?_ "Okay Parisu, Andray. Pachirisu use Charge, Andalexrae Meditate." Both pokemon stood poised, Pachirisu lighting up, Andalexrae becoming dark. "Charm, Safeguard." Light radiated from both pokemon, making a luminous wall between them. They could tell their trainer was becoming more confident.

"Block, Psycho Cut!" The air around the room shimmered, making a reflective barrier that would prevent opponents from switching out or fleeing. Psycho cut cut like a knife down to the floor, fragmenting and making a bright arc. "And finally guys! You're doing so well! No offense everybody. Discharge, Night Slash!" Pachirisu's beam of electricity arched along with Andalexrae's, crossing it. It made a contrasted cross in the center of the two attacks about ten feet high with a five foot width. All three of them, pokemon and trainer were standing around it, looking up reverently like an insubstantial monument.

"Everyone, I need voter's approval for me to use this routine. Yes thumbs up, no thumbs down. A sixty percent majority is needed to approve the routine." The voting didn't take long. Everybody but Tertwig voted yes, but when he saw everyone's thumbs up, he sheepishly changed his mind. "Okay, we're doing that then!" Alexander exclaimed. "For the next week, we train for the Battles and the Appeal round if I get there."

"Of course we'll get there," Milotic said. "You're the best trainer ever!" Alexander, Ash, Dawn, May, and Misty weren't the only people working hard for a ribbon, but Jessie, James, and Meowth, the Team Rocket trio, were too.

"You think he passed on our information well enough?" Jessie asked as she paced through the boss's empty office, brushing her long blonde hair out of her face. Giovanni had left them in charge again, with hopefully better results than their gym leadership at Veridian City.

"That yellow twirp is extremely reliable, considering that at first we signed up on the Alexandria Webate site to hopefully get some information. He's in the palm of our hand. All we have to do is steal more pokemon, enter the contest, and win!" James's shoulder-length purple hair was tied back for once.

"And take Alexander's pokemon," Meowth added. "His Azelf is especially appealing. She looks real cute, that will weaken our opponents, but she's deadly and quick, just like the Boss. He'll love her. And if we know the principles of war enough, we know that she can be used as a nice bargaining chip. She'll knock his socks off!"

"Then that won't happen to us anymore," Jessie said. They all shuddered; they had lost at least five battles against that overconfident Macedonian. He would be the perfect new recruit. But he _just_ had to choose the good side with revenge as an intent.

As Jessie and James started to plan their snatching, Meowth interrupted them again. "Wait! Don't forget that Andalexrae of his. Also powerful. We'll make a dramatic exchange: Azelf for Andalexrae."

"Perfect!" Jessie and James exclaimed. "Azelf Andalexrae are our key to riches. We'll win all our fights without any misses! We'll please the boss and get in return a lot!"

3: Suppose

It was the end of their first training day. Everyone discussed their progress as they grilled chicken in Ash's backyard. "I'm using Piplup and Ambeepalm, two pokemon that normally don't work together," Dawn boasted as she watched the flames go over their dinner. "Bubble beam and focus punch work so beautifully together."

"Oh yeah?" Pikachu didn't exaggerate his claims, but made them sound better, "I'm using two pokemon of the same type, Eevee and Bidoof. They've done a lot of things together before, so they have experience."

"Well, I'm using pokemon that are normally opposing types. What now?" Alexander had somehow managed to get between Pikachu and Dawn. They stared in amazement.

"Which pokemon exactly?" Dawn wondered innocently.

"I'll never tell. I'm not giving away my plans on how I'm going to conquer the world again either." That reply stunned her; but she expected it. He wasn't giving up his secret to success in the contest or in his world conquest plans. After all this time he's_ still intent on that,_ she thought as Ash, May, Misty, and Darius came stepping up to them. Darius wasn't working for Persia or what used to be Persia, but he couldn't really except he would be working close to Alexander his former vanquisher either. May had Butterfree on her shoulder, Misty's Togepi was in her backpack, Ash Tertwig on his shoulder like May, and Darius had a Skiddy in his arms. All had black hair accept Misty who had a brown-blonde mix. Ash had blue eyes, May had green, Misty dark hazel, and Darius dark brown. Fatigued but satisfied with the day's work, they managed to break up the argument once and for all. Apparently, they'd been training together away from the others.

"Hey you three are making dinner," Ash commented.

"While arguing about who's going to win the contest," May added.

"When you could be watching something interesting that's on TV right now," Darius and Misty finished. "Come on. It has to do with Team Rocket."

Alexander broke the uncomfortable silence. "Why is it that whenever something bad happens to us," he complained, "That it always involves _them?"_ Despite the fact that he had annoyed them all, he was right; Team Rocket was still trying to capture Pikachu and ever since about last April, they had been interested in Alexander too. They all watched the TV as the news reporter briefed everything.

"The hacking of the Pallet Pokemon Center's database has just been carried out. Apparently, someone managed to take the profiles of more than five trainers, all entered into the contest. These people are Dawn, Ash, and Pikachu Ketchem, Odysseus Ilium, May Sayallis, Misty Decodan, Darius Ackisan, and Alexander Alae Amon. Their names, addresses, and pokemon were taken, not any other information. The hacker, or in this case hackers, had left a code scrawled across the center's main computer: JesC, Jaims TIEM RUCKIT. This code has been interpreted to say Jessie James Team Rocket. These eight people who entered the contest today should return to the pokemon center and either write their names down on paper or drop out. Luckily, no identification was stolen."

"Drop out?" Dawn repeated. "After all the training we've done. Even though it's been one day, most of us already have a routine planned. We can't waste all that effort."

"This would have been my first contest," Darius turned to face the empty TV and scowled. "If we ever find Team Rocket again, I ought to quit coordinating and take my chances at the gyms."

Everyone was sullen, a little scared, and annoyed; Team Rocket interfered in almost everything they did. When a new person entered the Rock Circle, their pokemon-trainer music group, they had to have their electronics searched for any TR contacts. They had betrayed many of their own, giving them what they wanted for a price. Alexander had gained the ability to use ancient Greek as his language of magic, but it almost killed his friends. They had tried to kill him more times than anyone could count. Ash was another story; they had been trying to take Pikachu since two thousand five.

"What if they're not just going to take our pokemon," Pikachu thought out loud, "But capture some of us too? It's pretty likely, but why didn't they capture our pokemon when we were on break?"

Alexander always had some likely answer; he was the world's greatest military tactician, why not? "That's not their style. They like to have long fights in front of a lot of people." Everybody agreed. "But suppose that they just want our pokemon. They know that they can only take us if the person was willing enough. They could just steal our pokeballs or one of us and use them as a valuable hostage."

What were they going to do? They couldn't just let this happen. The effort and work was too much. "We'll fight for it!" Alexander said what was on everybody's mind. "We'll fight for it, break for it, maybe even flee,"

"Why didn't we let him sacrifice in the temple of Hercules," Darius added.

"All we know is in battle when we see The Great himself," Ash continued.

"We'll strike him down," said Pikachu.

"Right then and there," May stated.

"Or double the damage dealt," Misty said shyly.

"We will _fight_ _for_ _it!"_ Everybody pitched in to the lyrics of Fight for It by Launching off the Walls, knowing that it would fix their cause like two interleaved phone books. There would be no quitting, no turning back.

There was just one little problem: Alexander and Darius had fought each other for 13 years and even now they kept a close eye on each other. Someone asked one of the questions that both conquerors hoped would only come in a life or death situation. "Does this call for Macedon and Persia to work together?" Ash asked. Alexander and Darius looked across the table at their former enemy. Their civilizations had fought for almost two millennium and where Persia used to be was where they were fighting the rest of the world, including Greece.

"We'll have to work together then?" Darius posed the question and waited for it to stop hanging in the air. All looked at the pair of commanders, waiting for Alexander's response.

"Sure. Considering that the contest is in six days, might as well."

"You know we're included in that too," May and Misty added.

"So are we," Ash, Pikachu, and all their pokemon were nodding their heads all around.

"Tomorrow, it's on, Operation TR Payback is under way!" Pikachu said the sentence that starting tomorrow, would constantly be in their minds during the next week, before, during, and even after the contest.

4: The Generals come into Play

On that Saturday in Ash's living room after a long day of training, their call to action seemed pretty strong. But a day later on Sunday morning after their plan had stayed between the eight of them, they weren't so sure if they could do it. They needed to get more people into the loop so if anything went wrong, back-up would be waiting in the wings.

"We need more help," Pikachu suggested to Dawn as they washed the breakfast dishes. "Eight people versus three may seem fair, but what if they have comrades somewhere? Team Rocket's smart enough to get those." Dawn dried a plate while she thought his words over.

"If we're going to include people, then how many? Too many and this might leak; too little and there will be too much work among us."

Ash came through the door and suggested, "How about the rest of Alexander's former generals? They're competent enough. They're also almost always available." Dawn nodded, picked up the phone, and called the five of them.

In about ten minutes, five men in about their mid twenties came walking in. Ptolemy and Perminion had brown hair with blue-green eyes while Perdiccas and Craterus had auburn hair and honey-colored eyes. Hephaistion was different from everyone else as he had red hair and olive green eyes.

"We know about Operation TR Payback from your call," Ptolemy notified. "And I agree; why is it that everything bad in our lives involves _them?"_

"This is annoying," Perminion observed, "But unsurprising. They would have done this eventually, but just in a different way."

"What do we have to do?" asked Craterus.

"Just do some reconnaissance," Pikachu gave them their mission. "And keep an eye on the Macelepalen Eye."

"Who are they?" Hephaistion asked.

"Your friend and former enemy of course. You get over to Alexander's place and tell him we've got you into the loop."

"Already here." Everybody looked at Alexander's slender figure in the doorway.

"Why are we being let in so soon? Isn't there any paperwork?" Perdiccas asked.

"No. Everyone here, especially me, knows you. You already swore on the river Styx you wouldn't betray me. It's done. We need one more thing settled, though."

"What Alexander?" Hephaistion posed.

"We need a cool set of gear! I can provide that!" Everybody laughed; Alexander was always good at getting things that weren't exactly important on to the top of the list of priorities.

"We need a list of people. I'll write," Ash supplied. Craterus took a tablet of wax from his pack and settled it on the table.

"Oh, we also need seals for everyone," Alexander quickly remembered. "I have one already; why not everyone else?"

Odysseus, with his pale blonde hair and bright sapphire eyes always looked quizzical. He had come in and he hadn't spoken up until that moment. "Let's do it; we'll be called the Macelepalen Eye." Everyone signed their name and drew a simple but unique seal with the stylus on the wax.

MACELEPALEN EYE

Ash Ketchem (a capital A with a capital K below it inside a circle)

Pikachu Ketchem (a capital P with the inside shaded in and a capital K on the right with a line connecting the bottoms of the two legs on the K)

Dawn Ketchem (a circle with a smaller circle inside with a horizontal line going through them)

May Sayallis (a lower case m with an upper case S below it inside a triangle)

Misty Decodan (a capital M and a capital D with the D on the right. The two letters are connected in the center. The line where they touch is topped with an up-pointing arrow)

Odysseus Ilium (a capital O with the capital I going down the middle of the O. They are inside a parallelogram)

Darius Ackisan (D is capitalized and shaded and the A is a shaded triangle with the typical two legs and is below the D)

Perminion Seeit (a lower case p has a lower case s on its right with a right-pointing arrow below them both inside a square)

Ptolemy Laeggis (a lower case p with a lower case l on the right inside a square)

Perdiccas Testit (a capital P has a cross below it which serves as the that. They're inside a circle)

Hephaistion Furissa (a capital H has a capital F below it. There is an up-pointing arrow on the right of the two letters. They're inside a tall rectangle)

Alexander Alae Amon (three capital A's with two of them on the bottom and one on the top. The upper parts of the A's are shaded and they are inside a square)

Craterus Astyagia (just a capital Can inside a triangle)

"It's official then," Alexander proclaimed. "The Macelepalen Eye is going to send out Ptolemy and Perminion to hack Team Rocket's computers." "Yes sir," they responded simultaneously. "It's so great to have an intelligence team again," Alexander recollected. "I didn't think that would happen again. Now, I can send out advance scouts just like old times. But it's for a different purpose; information and to put down a revolt. It's up to us; who knows what they're capable of? They could turn from a somewhat pathetic trio of would-be criminals into a discrete, professional group of pokemon thieves. It's so unlikely that will happen, but it could happen. We really need to intimidate encourage, be awe-inspiring-" "Not again," Pikachu interjected. "Execute the action," he said.

"Be quick on your feet," Odysseus recited.

"To conquer an empire, see me in battle with my smile," Darius continued nervously, knowing what was going next.

"All this greatness is in my genes," Ptolemy went on.

"Inherited from Zeus," Dawn and Ash said the lyrics by heart.

"To make _my_ _traits."_ How is it that whenever we meet up and make significant advances in the investigation, we end up reciting lyrics to a song?"

"Well it's true we need to do all those things," Darius pointed out, "We need to be quick, deadly, and smart."

"Well let's be those things and get to work," Alexander commanded.

"Yes sir!" Everyone rushed off to carry out their orders.

"When will we meet up again?" Pikachu asked.

"No need to meet again," Alexander responded. "We all know what we need to do." So the Macelepalen Eye meeting dispersed, not knowing that though they all signed with their seal, it didn't mean much to one person who signed it.

Pikachu picked up the phone and dialed a number. "They all did what you thought they would do," he said fearfully. "Happy James?"

"Very much Pikachu," a voice said through the receiver. "We won't need you anymore. Just make sure to keep an eye on Alexander; he's a smart character. He'll latch onto suspicion like a leech to skin. He'll accuse one of the other members that they took everything. You are relieved of your duties."

"You just said that I had to keep an eye on him," Pikachu stated.

"You do that naturally do you not?"

"Yes," he replied tentatively.

"Just keep this between us will you? You don't want our promise to be carried out." Pikachu shook from head to foot at what Team Rocket had warned him that they would do to Ash if he didn't comply: "Give us what we want or your trainer will be gone with no way to find him again." He thanked James and hung up. He felt the guilt like a knife through his tiny brain; he couldn't tell. Team Rocket's threat was empty; but what if it was real? They would capture if not kill Ash. _ I have to tell Alexander,_ he told himself. But he recalled another ultimatum: "Tell that tall false leader of yours and him, yourself, and Ash will be hanging from an airplane full of explosives, with no way to ask Zeus for help." "I'll tell Alexander," Pikachu spoke to himself, his voice echoing off the walls of the empty kitchen, "Even if we end up being killed. _ Better be safe and expose myself than getting shocked to death. I have to. On Friday. No matter what happens as a result."_

5: The Truth from the Traitor

"Guys!" Ash yelled from the bottom of the stairs. "The contest is gonna start in one and a half hours! We have to get past the traffic! Hephaistion, can you get Alexander out of the bathroom please?"

"Already done," Hephaistion called down. Pikachu, Dawn, Hephaistion, May, Misty, Odysseus, and Darius came filing down the stairs. All were dressed in their best clothes, which didn't mean anything formal. Not by a long shot.

Ash was wearing a clean pair of black pants and a silver jacket over a green shirt. Hephaistion had regular blue jeans with gold thread about every three inches all around with a similarly patterned T-shirt with his seal in the middle above a pair of glasses. Pikachu had silver on his jeans, a tunic as a "Greece tribute" and a silver cap that looked like a helmet.

"Where did you get all that?" Ash took a look at Pikachu's finery.

"Let's just say that knowing Macedonians and Persians comes in handy."

May and misty had opposite colors: May had a white shirt and blue jeans with black vertical stripes and Misty had black pants and a blue and white patterned shirt. "Oh, you think we're stylish," Misty claimed, "Just look at Dawn and what she has." Pikachu turned to her. Dawn had grey camouflage jeans and a red shirt with her symbol, a large circle with a smaller one in the center with a line through them, drawn in the middle in rhinestones.

"That's beautiful, Dawn. But why do that now? The presentation starts in almost two hours. There's a surprise thing first, but they're giving the coordinators time to dress there at Daedalus Stadium."

Dawn shrugged. "Might as well do it now, I want to give my pokemon a prep-talk."

Darius was in full Persian attire; a pair of trousers with a long shirt over it, both green with silver stripes, it was just that the trousers had vertical stripes and the shirt horizontal ones. Odysseus was dressed in a similar way accept he was garbed in a chiton with the same pattern. His blonde hair was inside a ski cap who's rim was gilded.

"Like the cap," Misty looked over Hephaistion's shoulder at it, "Let me guess: a gift from your mom?"

"As usual, right, but no. This is from my mom, but she said it didn't fit her so she gave it to me."

"I wouldn't have guessed," Misty muttered.

"Where in the name of Veridian is Alexander?" Pikachu wanted to know.

"Look above you," That same accent calmly responded. Everyone looked up at who was at the top of the stairs and all gasped at once.

Alexander had black jeans, nothing fancy. His shirt was also black with his seal, three A's stacked on top of each other like a pyramid in the center in gold thread. On his wrist, was the same poketch that Ash had seen. Up close, he could see that the rim of the poketch was gold. But there was something astonishing and from antiquity about everything else he was wearing: he was wearing armor. He had bronze greaves on his legs, bronze-tipped sandals on his feet, and a cuirass, a breastplate and a plate over his back on top of his shirt, with his insignia raised on its surface as well. He had a helm on his head: black on the back, silver on the sides with gold wings extending from the sides, and a circlet of gold on the top.

He gave us a look through his face guard that clearly meant "What? I dress like this a lot." Dawn stammered, "How? What? When?"

"This? Well first, I got this from Philip. When I told Zeus I would be a half blood military commander, he gave me this stuff. This is the armor I wear when I go into battle. I got this last year around my birthday. Zeus said that he had been preserving it, waiting for me to come back. Let's get to the contest."

Just the walk from Ash's house to the stadium was really fascinating and embarrassing. People admired their fancy clothes, especially Alexander's armor. Someone called out, "Are you going to watch your troops do drills or enter a pokemon contest?" He answered back, "Both." That person looked surprised, hoping that his question would annoy him. When it did not, he walked away.

Daedalus Stadium was a marble building with a retractable roof. It could seat up to ninety thousand people, but it had two overflow areas, each big enough for fifteen thousand people next door. Everyone went into the registration room, showed Nurse Joy their qualification papers, and waited back stage. Out in the stadium, the place was shaped like a half-circle, the seats forming the curved section, just like a Greek theater. Not much sound enhancement technology was needed since sound bounced off the walls so nicely. "I, Judy Saymodan, am proud to present Pallet's fifth pokemon contest!" said the referee into the microphone. "There will be four rounds: the Visual Round, the Team Round, the Battle Round, and the Appeal Round. The first round will be carried out today and the Team Round will be tomorrow morning. All proceedings will be after the opening ceremony which will take place now."

"Opening ceremony?" Ash whispered into Dawn's ear.

She shook her head. "I don't know what this is for, but if it's happening, it's happening."

"To begin, we will bring out a statue of our patron. All around the world, the worshiping of pagan gods has supposedly stopped long ago. However, with the resurrection of the Olympians, we will honor one of Zeus's children, who is competing in our contest this year. He has since last June." A door to the stage opened, and an altar was being carried in with a statue on its top, a statue that all of the coordinators recognized. It was a statue of Alexander.

Just like in life, this Alexander was garbed in elaborate armor. As well as the poketch on his left wrist, there was a lightning bolt in his hand that spiraled up to the level of his head four feet above. He was Alexander-god of brilliance and of pokemon coordination. His features showed approval, displeasure, and impassiveness all at once. Despite all of the conflicting expressions, his mouth was upturned in a slight smile.

"Now, we will bring out our contestants!" Judy spoke into the microphone. We came walking in through that same door to the sounds of clapping. One of us, though, wasn't just surprised. Alexander's expression changed from recognition to one of astonishment. "How? Who-"

"How? You're the most revered pokemon coordinator in the world. And you're competing here. By the way, I had someone make that sculpture. To compensate for how foolishly I have acted."

He looked at Pikachu, confused. "What do you mean?" Pikachu beckoned to Judy, who gave him the microphone. _ It's time to get rid of my guilt,_ he thought as he took a deep breath.

"Alexander, Ash, everyone? I have something to tell you. Everyone here has heard of the hacking of the pokemon center's computer?"

Everyone present nodded. "Well, I'm one of those people who got their information stolen. And the day before that, Team Rocket called me. They said that I had to leak the RC's information to them. If I didn't, then you Ash, you Alexander, and I would be killed. I signed that wax with as much sincerity as my oath would allow. Please don't blame me for my ignorance. If Team Rocket hadn't met us five years ago, then they wouldn't be involved. They had entered before they hacked the computer. They intentionally left their names on it knowing that I was their escape rope. Sorry Ash, I mean it. I really do. I just didn't want you killed. I recommended you to have that battle against Alexander so Team Rocket could see what his pokemon could do. They want to steal the rest our pokemon as well."

Ash and Alexander stared at Pikachu's hurt expression. "I thought their threats were real. I believed them. I betrayed the Macelepalen Eye and the RC. Can you ever forgive me?"

Their faces changed from shock to pity. "You should have told us," Ash said gently.

"I swore on the Gods, an oath as powerful as swearing on the Styx. It can only be absolved by a god. I thought that all the other gods, even Athena, wouldn't take me seriously at all. Only one will do it free of charge."

Alexander understood their strategy at once. "And if you didn't comply," he said slowly, "they would use one of us as a valuable hostage to keep us behaving."

Pikachu inclined his head. "And you're the only one who can absolve me of my crime. You are three-quarters Greek god, and you already have ichor. You are the closest thing to a Greek god that I can access easily. Will you do it? Please?"

He watched the Macedonian's eyes soften, losing some of their reflective quality. "Sure," he gave him his awaited answer. "Take out your ball capsule."

Pikachu did so, placing it on the ground, and he knelt down at Alexander's feet. Alexander bent over him, his left hand shining. Pikachu closed his eyes. He put his hand on Pikachu's shoulder, and recited a spell in ancient Greek. Pikachu's side glowed. He did the same to his right side. Next, he laid his hand on Pikachu's and told him to repeat the oath after him. He recited the needed lines in ancient Greek as best he could, and stood up.

Pikachu's face was full of pure joy. His smile was blissful. "Thank you-" He was cut off by three simultaneous "Nos!" from across the stage.

Team Rocket, with Jessie's blonde hair and James's purple hair flying behind them, came running to meet them. James grabbed Pikachu, held him by the legs upside down, and yelled, "You broke your oath! You betrayed us! You have made it so we will never be able to capture Azelf and Andalexrae. You just had to be the good guy!"

"Yes!" Jessie and Meowth cheered him on, "Give it to him!"

"I'm not going to go down at your hands without a fight!" Pikachu smirked at James. A thunderbolt shot from his palm, making James drop him. "Go Eevee! Camouflage!" Eevee did Tackle and she knocked James over.

Pikachu saw that someone went jumping over Eevee's head, landed on Jessie and Meowth, and started striking them with elbows, knees, hands, feet, and poketch. Pikachu and Hephaistion and everyone else in the stadium stared. "Go Siviper! Wrap!" Siviper got itself around Alexander and his poketch suddenly flashed. Three pokemon came bursting out, all looking angry. "No one hurts Phoinix that way!" Andalexrae yelled, using Psycho Cut on Siviper.

"No one strikes down our commander!" Pachirisu screamed, using Discharge on Jessie's pokemon.

"And most of all," Azelf screamed, "No one gets The Great so easy!" She used Assist, doing Flare Blitz, and she blasted all of the Team Rocket members out of the retractable roof into the sky. They all called out as they flew, "Looks like we're never entering another contest again!"

Judy made the silence a little more bearable by saying, "That is a start to a contest I'm not forgetting any time soon. Pikachu, now that you are redeemed, are you still going to compete?"

"You bet!" He answered enthusiastically. "Let's get this contest started!"

6: Present and Judge

"May I do the honors?" Pikachu asked Judy.

"Yes you may. And now for our first contestant, who has made himself now not a traitor, Pikachu Ketchem!" she announced.

Pikachu retrieved his ball capsule from the floor, and he saw that it was glowing brightly. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he pressed on. "Eevee, Bidoof! Spotlight!" The two pokemon came spinning into view. "Eevee Baton Pass, Bidoof Water Gun!" A flash of light shaped like a luminescent baton that looked like it was being held in Eevee's hand was being passed through the jet of water, making a stream of rainbow colors.

"Shadow Ball, Frustration!" Bidoof started to attack the air while Eevee turned the stage dark, making it look mysterious.

"Hyper Beam, Surf!" The stage flooded, and hyper beam cut through the water, making it seem that Pikachu, Eevee, and Bidoof were standing on a checkered floor.

"Weather Ball, Razor Wind!" Eevee turned into a grass type, using Frenzy Plant, and Bidoof sent a blast of energy from its body, making a tidal wave. The crowd cheered. "Pikachu has received a score of eighty five points out of one hundred, and since a minimum score of eighty points is needed to move on, he will be proceeding to the Team Round!"

"We did it!" they yelled. Pikachu sat down in the front row where they would get the chance to watch the other coordinators.

"Our next contestant is new to this sport. He's changing what people think of people from Iraq. He is Darius Ackisan!" It was Darius's turn. He looked nervous, but he remembered how Pikachu's ball capsule had glowed, how this seemed to make him more confident, and he pictured himself with the ribbon, his very first. He called out, "Go Skiddy, go Pinsir!" Recover, Defend Order!" Both pokemon stood there, recovering HP.

"Barrage, Fury Cutter!" Skiddy and Pinsir attacked at once, struggling against an invisible enemy.

"Growl, Pin Missile!" Skiddy stood still while Pinsir shot projectiles all around the stage, making an impression that there were many more pokemon archers than there really were.

"Pound, Signal Beam!" Skiddy bashed in the skull of her invisible opponent far above her, and Pinsir aimed Signal Beam on high. They were aiming at about the same height as Alexander, so he was clearly showing that he would triumph over him with a lot of hard work.

"Excellent!" Judy exclaimed. "Darius has earned eighty eight points and will make it to the Team Round."

A couple hours later, all of the other coordinators had presented their routines. Ash, Odysseus, May, Misty, Darius, and Pikachu had proved their worth. "Our last coordinator," Judy introduced, "who has had an almost nonstop winning streak for a year, is Alexander Alae Amon."

Everyone in the stadium looked at the last coordinator. Alexander stared everybody down, giving them the same expression that had intimidated Ash. Everyone tried to look away, but they couldn't. He stepped on stage, fearing no one. He didn't do it for points though his scores were high. He did it because he thought it was fun and challenging. But don't let this fool you. He _was_ the contestant to beat.

"Pachirisu, Andalexrae, advance!" He swung his left arm in an inverted arc, releasing the two pokemon with a spinning orb of light above each, lighting them up. "Charge, Meditate!" His clear, loud voice bounced off the walls along with the light radiating from Pachirisu, which reflected off Andalexrae's side.

"Charm, Safeguard," said Alexander, recreating the light screen effect. The audience was almost silent. _What is going on,_ he wondered, a little worried. "Block, Psycho Cut!" The reflective barrier went around not just the stage, but it circumvented the whole stadium. Every member of the audience stared.

"Discharge, Night Slash!" His final call on his pokemon made the same cross design. This time, it drew the crowd's attention, not just that of his pokemon.

There was an eerie silence, then there was a deafening roar of approval from the crowd. Everybody stood, waving their arms above their heads and shouting at the top of their voices. At first, it was just indistinct words, then it solidified itself into a registerable chant. "Let's go Pella! Let's go Pella! Let's go Pella!" Every time the phrase was said, the crowd clapped a rhythm loudly. "Let's go Pella! Let's go Pella! Let's go Pella!"

As for the judges, Alexander could only identify one of them: the Pallet Town Nurse Joy. She came over to the trio, looking up at him. She looked tense. "What's wrong?" he asked, concern on his face.

"It, was the most graceful and most energetic presentation I have ever seen. The pokemon you chose were surprising. Regardless of their clashing types, they were so united in their actions. I loved it!" The other two judges, who were male, agreed.

Judy was crying with delight, microphone shaking, barely able to keep it from falling onto the floor. "No offense to all the other coordinators, but I think that was the best presentation I've ever seen. I will probably never see one that could compete in my entire pokemon contest refereeing career. One hundred points!"

The cheers came up again. It was almost nighttime, and much had happened, much business taken care of. Tomorrow, the Team Round would begin. Time to explain some things first.

"That was so awesome!" Pikachu ran up to Alexander and embraced him. "And I'm just wondering, why was my ball capsule glowing?"

"Let's just say it was payment. You were the first person to get the Blessing of Alexander."

Pikachu gaped. "How did you do that?"

"I'm a Greek god, even if I am not a complete one, aren't I not? I can do that. Let's rest up for the Team Round. It'll be tomorrow. You'll really need it."

7: Everyone, Everything, Unexpected

The following day, the contest resumed. "These contestants will go on to the Team Round: May Sayallis, Pikachu Ketchem, Alexander alae Amon, and Darius Ackisan! All the contestants that competed but didn't get to the Team Round will receive a statue of two of our contestants who led Alexander on his way: Hephaistion Furissa and Aristotle Tracspect." About twenty other people came on stage to get their awards. None looked sad, but all were honored. "I'm just glad I made it," Ash said. "We'll have better luck next year." All nodded and walked off.

"Now," Judy announced, "it's time for the Team Round. The coordinator's task: to create a supposed route, in riddle form, to any place. It can be real or fictional. You may take its inspiration from anything. You have forty five minutes. You will be scored out of one hundred points on originality, participation among all of the trainer's pokemon, use of time, and trainer leadership. Each of these trainers will have their own research space. The judges and the audience will be able to see your progress. Begin!"

All the trainers went rushing into the office spaces provided. Darius bolted to his computer and looked up the location of Persepalus. "I know what to do," Darius proposed his plan, and everybody nodded.

"How about we start in Greece?" Skiddy asked.

"Sure." He wrote on their paper:

To get to the former center, start where the creator of the downfall began to make his destructive and cultural path, where he was inspired to start spreading his Hellenic seeds.

"How will the person get to Asia?" Skiddy asked again.

"Wait!" Pinsir grabbed Skiddy's pen, and he added the following lines.

Travel from the bicentennially dry spring that let its waters flow to only one more person to where the first Great King was beaten the first time. Journey from the seer's hometown to Tyre.

"Isn't that a little bit too obvious?" Skiddy asked Pinsir, frowning at his riddle.

"It's like a riddle, you'll have to find like five places." Everyone looked at their timer: they had 20 minutes left. They had plenty of time.

"I know how the last part to actually get to Persepalus will go." Darius took the paper and wrote these final lines.

Go from the Great king's second defeat site to his three succeeding host cities. Your destination is the one where the fire both burned and conserved.

"Finished!" Darius stuck his head out of the door and handed their paper to Judy. "All we have to do is wait for the other coordinators.

"I know what we should do!" Alexander was also confident. "We should do Alexandria. And I have a first clue already. Azelf, you do the honors." She took her pen and put down their initial line:

Begin in the Great's teacher's home city, then go to the palace of the barbarous but brilliant race where the teacher's chief student was raised. Travel to where he was taught next. Go across the waterway named after one of Zeus's children to the Great's rope cutting site.

"Me next," Tertwig took the pen in his hand:

Go to his only island siege site and then to his first siege site which seems to be in a giant sand box but yet close to a river.

Pachirisu contributed:

Go to the city of the Pharaohs, then across the desert to a brilliant patch of green with the oracle who spoke to two of The Great's idols.

Exeggcute wrote:

Return the way you came to a ridge connected to an island. It should have a natural harbor.

Espeon added one more line:

Remember this nearly rectangular city's creator by looking for the modern equivalent to his own literary hideaway.

"We have ten minutes left," Exeggcute notified. "We can hand it in." Azelf ran outside and gave it to Judy to the sounds of the cry "Let's go Pella! Let's go Pella!"

"Come on Jessie!" Meowth urged. "I have a place: Rome."

Travel to the remains of the largest empire ever made, and start in the country where the site of Troy is located. Go across the many miles, and use the bridges used to carry water pointing the way. Go until you see the tomb of the person jealous of the Great.

"The twirps won't know what hit them!" Jessie exclaimed. "And good thing we're done too, there's only five minutes left." They raced onto the stage, waving their paper.

"And moving on to the Battle Round will be?" Judy made known, "Alexander Alae Amon with ninety five points, Darius Ackisan with ninety points and Jessie Snatcher with ninety seven points!"

All three of them stared at their competition. "Well I made it," Darius said.

"So did I." Alexander was forceful.

"I made it! Made it! I am gonna win it!" Jessie bragged.

Alexander and Darius stared, confused. Then, one of them recognized first her name and then her face. "Jessie? Wait, I thought I blasted you into the sky."

Jessie sneered at him. "Let's just say that I used strategy and I kept a parachute with me. I entered in by bribing the guards. Thanks to you they knew me, so that was the only thing I could do."

He finally realized why they put their names on the computer: they knew he would go looking for them. He would want a fight and Jessie knew that too. "Forget the normal Battle Round!" she shouted. "All three fight for the ribbon. Siviper go!"

"Azelf go!"

"Skiddy do it!" All three coordinators stood and Alexander called, "Psybeam them!" Two beams of light came speeding toward Skiddy and Siviper.

"Smoke screen!" The beam dissolved into misty light.

"Barrage!" Darius was attacking Azelf from behind.

"Assist!" Flames engulfed the stage, paralyzing Siviper and burning Pinsir.

"Wrap them!" Both opposing pokemon were fighting against Siviper now.

"Defend order Pinsir! Pin Missile at Siviper!" The pokemon archer went to work, shooting along Siviper's length.

"Andalexrae Night Slash!" That call shook the stadium, and the stage itself seemed to quake with the command. "Azelf, Counter Attack and Assist!" She mimicked Andalexrae and brought Siviper down. "And now? Safeguard, Meditate, Psycho Cut!"

"Fury Cutter!" The two pokemon collided, trying to hit the other.

"Signal Beam! Pound!" Azelf shuddered as she was getting hit.

"Assist!" The psychic pokemon did an attack no one expected, Attract, making Pinsir go for Andalexrae instead. "Psybeam! Agility!"

"Recover."

Alexander couldn't believe it: recover? _How could he forget!_ "Defend Order! Growl!"

"Pachirisu go Block! Charm!" Darius looked shocked: _his vanquisher might win, again._

Then, Jessie did the unexpected. "Siviper poison tail! Not Azelf, _him!"_ Someone came rushing at Alexander and he fell to the ground, paralyzed.

"Fury cutter!" Darius heard a gasp that he could just tell meant, "Night Slash, Psybeam." Siviper went flying as Azelf and Andalexrae stood aside. "Discharge!"

"Fury Cutter again Pinsir!" There was another clash of pokemon fighting. Then, something that would never happen to Alexander happened: Andalexrae was felled by Pinsir. "Counter, Assist! Return Andalexrae." Azelf attacked both pokemon, not caring that her companion was down and out. She was fighting for him.

"Pound, Signal Beam! Recover, Growl. Pin Missile!"

"Assist again!" There was a flash of movement and a cry of dismay: in using Assist, Azelf had used Caller Spin. It allowed her to attack without being affected by stat changes. Pinsir flew across the stage and crashed against a wall.

"This is incredible!" Judy declared. "This is the first time that this has happened!"

"Jessie-" Pikachu, who had watched not speaking during this whole thing translated the ancient Greek just enough to make out "Paralyze." He shouted this up to Judy. Jessie froze along with her pokemon and she was carried out of the stadium.

"Pinsir return. Skiddy Barrage, Pound, Recover!"

"Psybeam!" Despite the fact that the attack was strong, it wasn't enough to defend Azelf.

Time to finish this. "Barrage one more time!" Azelf went airborne and then lay still.

"This is unbelievable!" Judy shouted. "Alexander the Great, former king of Macedon, has lost his fourth battle, and his first to Darius Ackisan, king of the Persians! However, since both coordinators and teams of pokemon fought valiantly, they both receive a contest ribbon."

The two coordinators stared out at the crowd. "You're serious?" asked Skiddy.

"I'm as serious as there are as many songs on Itunes, and that's pretty serious."

"So we'll be working together on more stuff hey?" Alexander asked Darius.

"Guess so."

"Don't guarantee that I'll follow you all the time." Darius was a little disappointed, but he expected it. They graciously were presented with ribbons, Darius's first and Alexander's sixth. The only thing left to do was to get back to Ash's house to celebrate, not just one winner, but two. They weren't the only ones who got what they wanted, though. Pikachu also redeemed himself the previous day, so all three would be congratulated on that glorious Saturday night.

8: Interviews, Issis, and Gaugamela

More than five happy and hyper trainers came running out of Daedalus Stadium, two waving ribbons high above their heads like flags. "We won! We won! Eureka! Go Iskander! Darayivaush! Why are we using the Persian versions of our names? I don't know! Let's get out of here!"

A reporter rushed up to them. "How does it feel to get ribbon number one?" She asked Darius.

"Awesome, awesome, great!"

"I'm just proud of him!" Alexander exclaimed, high-fiving Darius. "Let's party at Ash's place. Before-"

As soon as the group of friends exited the stadium, a swarm of people rushed up to them. Most had cameras, but others were just normal trainers and coordinators who didn't make it into the Team Round. Before anyone took any pictures or asked for advice, they performed the prostration, bowing and lying facedown on the ground, wanting their ball capsules and poketches blessed. Alexander and Darius complied with all of their requests.

People even asked Ash and Pikachu for advice. "Here's something: do what you need to in the Visual Round as long as it follows the rules." Ash said.

"Train your pokemon well and if you end up in the Appeal Round with Alexander, good luck."

"Truly, good luck," a nasal voice called, "considering that you've fallen into another one of our cunning traps!" A cat pokemon who was biped came up to them, looking familiar, but the two trainers didn't care. They had won and since they were now allies, they could do anything together. "I have a little surprise for you," he said to Alexander, holding out his camera. "Can I take photos of you so I can commission a sculpture of you?"

"Meowth, Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, Team Rocket lost, so might as well register that you won the war."

He nodded, and Meowth pressed a button on the camer. Instead of taking a picture, it shot a thread that wound itself around the poketch on his wrist and started to pull it up towards the camera. Alexander used his right hand to grab the lid of the poketch and managed to summon his reinforcements. "Not again!" Tertwig noticed. _ I have to start another argument,_ he thought. _ Here goes._

"I can't believe that you would violate the rules of war! Phoinix won fair and square and you can't respect that?"

"Team Rocket will never play fair!" Then Meowth's voice softened, "Okay, we'll give you the poketch back. Have Tertwig there cut the line."

"Magical Leaf." The sticky thread line cut, releasing the poketch, but it wrapped itself around Alexander instead, starting at the waist.

Two more individuals came sprinting up from behind, holding cameras as well. "Skiddy Pound then Barrage." The two individuals first thought of fleeing then they changed their minds, and stayed while the thread kept tying up the world's best pokemon coordinator. Meowth pushed him to the ground while Alexander strained against his bonds. "Tertwig Bullet Seed." The seeds did do some effect, but they didn't break Alexander's bonds. They caused him pain.

"Razor Leaf." Even when using a critical hit move, the ropes held.

He decided to use Andalexrae instead. "Night Slash." Andalexrae aimed for the most dignified spot to release him, his wrist. But as the attack hit, he screamed in agony. He was bleeding from his ties.

"Now see what you've done!" Milotic scolded. "He's losing blood because of you. We have to find the central knot if there is one in this thing."

The seven pokemon just managed to lift their trainer off the ground, and they started to look for the most complicated knot in the thread. For all they knew, it was all smooth rope with no knots. "Look under his helmet!" There was a knot about three inches long by two inches wide securing his helmet to the rest of his armor and the rest of the thread.

"How about we take turns trying to untie the knot?" Azelf was finally taking a leadership role. Each of the seven pokemon grasped the knot, trying to untie it to no avail.

"It seems," Espeon said, pulling at the string, "That there's no end to this knot."

"This is just like what Alexander told us about when he untied the, what was it called, The Gordian Knot! This is the Gordian Knot! Again! In both knots, there's no visible end!"

"Well we know how he's tied up Espeon," Tertwig posed, "but how did he actually untie the knot?"

"He struggled like us," Andalexrae recounted, "then he ditched untying it and cut it with, his sword! He cut the knot with a sword exposing the ends. Then he proclaimed, "It doesn't matter how the knot is untied, but that it is undone!" We'll do that for him. But first, we need a worthy sword!"

"Oh, how about the one sitting right there?" Exeggcute pointed mockingly at a long, thin bronze blade at Alexander's side.

It had a gilded hilt with a gold alpha in its center. It had a blade about five feet long, the width equal all the way through, getting neither thinner nor thicker as you went from hilt to tip. The blade's edge was thin, sharp, and delicate yet terrifying. Azelf reached down and grasped its hilt. She gasped. Instead of pulling her hand down, the blade was almost weightless. She felt her trainer's strength, intelligence, and energy rush into her. She was like Alexander, no, she _was_ Alexander. She was The Great! She experimented with a simple stab. It went exactly where she wanted. She started to do more complicated sword maneuvers that she didn't know before. "The knot?" Andalexrae prompted.

She raised the blade above her head and brought it down in a clean slash. The rope cut like butter and as soon as the blade made contact with the thread, it snapped and the rest of the thread came ripping off along with it.

They heaved Alexander onto his feet and gave him his sword back. When he came to, he yelled, "What are you doing! This is madness!" Then, he focused on Azelf and steadied.

"You know we have company." Tertwig pointed at Team Rocket.

"You said that these ropes are unbreakable by pokemonic means!" Jessie scolded.

"Well he used a sword and that thing's blade is sharp!" James cowered as Jessie shouted louder. "We fight trainer on trainer!"

Azelf jumped on Jessie's back and tackled her before she could move a finger. Andalexrae brought down James while Pachirisu and Milotic grabbed Meowth. Jessie managed to shake off Azelf, and she pulled a dagger out from under her jacket. James and Meowth did the same, but before they could attack, they saw someone take a sword in their hand. A lightning bolt shot from the tip point blank at them, and they jumped back, feeling the energy brush against their clothes. Jessie and James and Meowth went to work, slicing and stabbing. All their blows were countered, and James even got disarmed and would have been sliced into bits if Jessie hadn't covered for him.

Then, Meowth tried something new. He took his knife, slashed and wove around Alexander's sword so close that it couldn't hit it, slid by his cuirass, and stabbed him in the ribs. He expected to see a stream of dark blood, but instead, saw a flow of gold liquid. "Ichor! The blood of the gods!" Pikachu shouted from behind Alexander. "Remember when I said he's a greek god in that respect? I wasn't kidding! Meowth Look out!"

All three pokemon poachers had numerous cuts and bruises in no time. Meowth was in the worst condition, with scratches up and down his arms and some on his face. His head was hurting from getting clubbed over the head with that sword. This time, Team Rocket didn't try to hurt Alexander, for they were just trying to disarm him. This made it easier for them to get disarmed themselves. All of their daggers had wedged edges from hitting edge to edge with him. "This has to end." James said between his teeth. He dropped his knife, motioning for Jessie and Meowth to do the same. They got down on their knees, pleading.

"Please! We didn't plan this! The boss told us to! We respect war now that we know how it's done! Just don't kill us!"

He contemplated on their thoughts. "Well you attempted to take my pokemon and me. You betrayed my friend. You made him break the oath of the Macelepalen Eye and the RC."

The group at his feet trembled with fear, and then they heard from above them, "Okay, I have to admit, using Pikachu is a good strategy. Using a usually behind the scenes person. You knew that my generals had taken an oath, so you used the next best thing." He paused. "I could have you put on trial in front of the Macedonian assembly. But since I'm feeling considerate today, I'll let this slide. I need to give you those ankle tracking bracelets though."

He took three metal bands out of his shirt pocket and strapped them to their ankles. "I'll give their cereal numbers to Officer Jenny so she can keep an eye on you." Officer Jenny was the town's police chief, and Alexander had become friends with her last May. He always got surveillance cameras and tracking devices when he needed them. They sighed with relief, stood, and walked away. The celebration hadn't begun yet, but Team Rocket, just like Darius during the battle of Gaugamela, had escaped to fight another day. Now that everything was cleared up, now it was time to celebrate with something they hadn't done in a long time: a Macedonian style banquet.

9: Finally, It's Our Time Now

As many people say before a trip, "getting there is half the fun." But that was especially true for Alexander and Darius. They were afraid of Team Rocket finding them again, so they called Odysseus's mom. She pulled up to Daedalus Stadium in a green Toyota Prius. They had both seen Athena, the goddess of wisdom before, but they were still shy and cautious around her when it came to behavior. She had jeans and a red shirt with Odysseus's seal on it, with a light bulb over that. "You said you wanted a ride," she coaxed and beckoned them in. Out of respect, they both got down on their knees.

"You know, you don't have to do that," she told Alexander pointedly. Though she looked annoyed, her grey eyes seemed to sparkle as she saw how they paid her respect. "We're technically of the same status."

"I haven't gotten used to that yet," he said in a small voice.

"But wait," he changed the subject by gesturing toward the car, "don't Toyotas have a lot of problems with the breaks, frames, gas pedals, and floor mats?"

"Well, I had this car repaired a lot of times. I can tell you about it on the way. Get in, before-" She was cut off by more people running up to them. "You should have gotten in when you had the chance."

"Not again, I hoped this wouldn't happen," Darius protested. "Don't people in this town ever leave winners of contests alone? Don't they ever do that?"

"They do, just not when you think."

"If this is how the celebrities lives are," Athena shouted over the noise of the people, "how do they go home without getting followed?"

Alexander held up a hand in a "stop, I'm thinking" kind of way. "Oh crap, he's thinking again. How did PERMINION deal with you?"

"Shhh. Get in the car, now. I'll create the distraction." Alexander and Darius buckled up in the back seat. Athena closed their doors and started the engine. Then, she put the car into drive and began moving forward. Alexander stuck his head out of his window and shouted, "You'll never take us alive! If you want us, come catch us!" He quickly closed the window, Athena swung into the carpool lane, and they sped down Speeder Drive where the stadium was located. They just had to turn left on Rictron Street, go down about five blocks, turn right onto Lead Avenue, and turn right onto Sorulian Street. But they had to get past the traffic first.

Athena barely stopped at the red lights, but thank the gods there weren't many of them. People ran on the sidewalks, following their route. "Leave us alone please!" Darius opened his window and shouted out. "We're normal people! Do you want to battle Alexander?"

Everyone who was running stopped and stood there, thinking it over. Many of them shuddered at the realization.

"Exactly. If you can please, please, let us get back home without having to apply force, that would be nice." He shut the window and watched the people following them. They weren't doing so as crazily as before.

"Thanks," credited Athena. "This will make our drive much safer and it will make it much less likely that I will have to speed."

The threesome opened the car doors and stepped out onto Ash's porch. It was designed like the pokemon center, with many bas-reliefs and sculptures on the walkway leading up to it. Above the front door, there was a portrait of Troy, accept that instead of an arrow in Achilles' heel, there was a pokeball sitting by it. Athena could tell that Alexander loved this portrait. Even now, he admired _The_ _Iliad_ more than any other book. He knocked on the door, and it flew open. Mrs. Ketchum stood in the doorway. She had black hair like Ash and his blue eyes too. He was a son of Hermes, and unlike the other greek gods, the sons of Hermes could be of any appearance.

"Oh you're here!" she said graciously, embracing the three of them. "Come in, the party's about to start. You might want to take off that cuirass, it must be hurting your back."

"Nah, it's fine. I've had to wear it much longer many times on campaign. Is Pikachu there?"

"He is, and he's doing something special for the three of you." They walked inside, removing their shoes out of courtesy, and saw that people were flooding into the backyard. Mrs. Ketchum pulled her sliding door open, and they stepped onto the warm concrete.

About fifty people were on the patio, sitting at several tables set up on the grass. A grill was going pool side. Someone ran up to the trio, eyes red and puffy. "Pikachu!" They exclaimed, lifting him into their arms together. "What happened?"

"It's," he paused, catching his breath. "I was making a dip and it involves lemon. I was trying to squeeze it and some went into my eyes." They looked understanding at him and put him down. "I have something I can tell you though," he said, pointing to a table. "All of us are sitting there. I'm grilling sausages for the first time!"

"Wait, I thought you grilled our chicken once," Darius remembered.

"Well, I didn't do that, that was Dawn's idea. This time, I'm doing it alone. I even chose ideal sides too. In honor of Greece, specifically Athena, I grilled olives-" Even before he finished his sentence, Athena and Alexander went running past him, grabbed plates, and piled them high with the fruit.

Before taking their seats, they noticed that there were three chairs of honor at the head of the table, one on its left and one on the right, at the front of their respective sides. The head chair was about five or six inches above the rest, and it was canopied. "That," Pikachu said, "was my surprise. I copied the design from the throne in Persepalus. Hopefully, it's accurate enough. Doesn't matter which one of you three takes it."

Alexander was confused when he heard three since he thought that meant Athena, but he saw Hephaistion at his side. His eyes showed wonder.

"It's just like at Persepalus. And I think we know who gets it."

Hephaistion saw his friend's mouth hang open. "Think of it like revisiting Darius's throne room."

"Okay," he said, looking uncomfortable. He walked up to the seat and slipped under its shade.

"Whoa," Athena said across the table from him, "if this is a copy of the throne in Persepalus, how come you didn't put a footstool?"

"My height increase makes there be no need of one."

"Is this how it really-" "Can we stop talking about my height and start eating? Being tied up really takes the energy out of you."

Before eating, however, everyone stood, took a sip from Alexander's cup, and performed the prostration, bowing then lying facedown on the concrete. Each performance was unique in its own right, and when Darius did it, the two former Great Kings did it for each other. "To the gods," Alexander toasted.

"To the gods," everyone echoed. They threw parts of their dinner into the fire that had made it as a sacrifice. He handed the cup to one more person. The girl he gave it to was different, for she was visually impaired. Her name was Pauline, and she was also in the Ketchum family. Sporting jeans and a shirt similar to Pikachu's, she had to be his trainer. When it came to the fact that her and Pikachu had a similar design on their shirts, she wouldn't have believed that or known that. She reached around his hand, and tried to grab the cup. "Here," he said gently, and passed it to her. She sipped his drink, set down a cane she used when traveling, and knelt, touching her forehead to the floor. She stood, a little bit uneasy and Alexander held her by the arm. "Thanks," she muttered. She was the only blind pokemon trainer in the world with such a high success rate.

"You know, you're so lucky that you have such supportive pokemon. You and Pikachu taught each other well enough that you could both be in the contest." She looked down, and she moved her hand down his arm to his elbow. "Where do you want to sit?"

"Next to Pikachu or, if I can, close to you."

"There's an empty seat that Hephaistion was sitting in that's next to me. He's already moved over. Pikachu is across the table from you. Is that okay?"

"That would be nice. Thank you! It's an honor to be even sitting at the same table as you, but _next_ to you?" she remarked as Alexander unseated himself, led her to her chair, and pulled it out for her. She reached down and as a sign of respect, kissed his hand. He returned the gesture on her forearm.

"I have to ask," wondered Darius, "why do our parties always start so formally?"

"Well you're Persian, you're not used to this."

"Can't argue with that," Ash pointed out, and Darius made a face. Ash stopped and pulled a CD from his pack. He placed it into a CD player, and he selected a song.

"There will be no rules tonight,

If there were we'd break 'em,

Nothing's gonna stop us now,

Let's get down to it.

Nervous hands and anxious smiles,

I can feel you breathing,

This is right were we belong,

Turn up the music."

Everyone pitched in in singing the chorus. "This is a dance for all the lovers,

Taking a chance for one another,

Finally it's our time now.

These are the times that we'll remember,

Breaking the city's heart together,

Finally it's our time now, it's our time now."

For the duration of the party, there would be no worries and no trouble. They would all enjoy it while it lasted. It was finally the time to celebrate, for their problems were taken care of. Everyone at that table knew, however, that Team Rocket would be back and they would be even more cunning than before.

"I have one more thing to say before we enjoy this fine dinner," Darius noted later on. "You've seen it, you've heard it, you try to reenact it."

"You really really need professional aid," said Hephaistion.

"You choose your best friend," said Ash, "To be your leader," Pikachu added.

"You could fail," Odysseus continued, "Or your outcome could be the same," Athena sang.

Alexander took the chorus. "You really need to: intimidate encourage, be awe-inspiring,

Execute the action, be quick on your feet.

To conquer another empire, see me in battle with my smile,

All this greatness is within me,

Inherited from Zeus, to make my traits."

"To trying to attain these requirements to be like Alexander the Great," Darius gave a tribute, "the rightful Great King."

"To Alexander!" everyone shouted, touching glasses.

"Time to put on another good song to wrap the pre-party proceedings up." Alexander tapped his glass, and the table went quiet. "I have a song for Pauline."

"For me?" she asked.

"Yes. You seem so tense. Come on, it's an awesome party. You're with your pokemon, and you're with me. You said that's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yes."

"Girl, put your records on,

Tell me your favorite song,

You go ahead, let your hair down.

Sapphire faded jeans,

I hope you get your dreams,

Just go ahead let your hair down.

We're gonna find ourselves somewhere, somehow."


End file.
